Intentional Selling : The Power of Intention for Accelerating Sales Results

Anyone who works with me and knows me has heard me rave about the power of intention. It’s no accident that I named my sales process training Intentional Selling. What does the word ‘intention’ mean to you?  How would you define it? And what does it have to do with selling anyway?

In my Intentional Selling workshops one of the foundational concepts I establish right at the beginning is the power of intention. When I ask people what the word intention means to them, it invokes different and sometimes confusing responses in people. ..

•  “A bit scary”
• “There are different levels”
• “It is a wish or a dream”
• “It needs to be supported by a plan”
• “It is not the only thing”
• ‘Intriguing”
• “Challenging in a good way”
• “Resolute”

“Selling with Intention to Create More Results and Shorter Selling Cycles”

Selling with intention is such a powerful process that I’ve adopted it as the tagline on my website. That’s because I believe Intention is one of the strongest predictors of results: Sales results, business results, even life results.

And yet in the context of the business world (or in any context for that matter) it is a grossly unexplored and untapped opportunity.

By becoming more aware of the power of intention, by creating common language and understanding about what it is and what it is not we can leverage the power of intention to accelerate sales.

I recently hired ‘Get LinkedIn Help’ to update my LinkedIn Profile and Kristina Jaramillo asked me how I would define ‘selling with intention.’ Talk about turning the tables. I have to admit it caused me to pause, reflect and squirm. Now I am committing myself publicly.

Here are two key questions she asked me:

1. If you were to define “selling with intention” – what would your definition be?

I responded:
Selling with intention is about being fully conscious of the mindset, the energy and the specific selling behaviours that drive sales success. This translates into selling by design, using deliberate skills and bringing resolve into all aspects of our day-to-day selling actions.
There is intention in each one of those words – this is a high level concept – and it’s not easy to bring intention into our habits in everyday life.

2. When a sales professional sells with intention, what do they do differently?

My response:

• They are keenly aware of how powerful intention is. They apply this awareness into all aspects of their day-to-day habits and client conversations.
• They think about how they are thinking because they understand that their mindset directly impacts their behaviour. And they know that their behaviour directly impacts their results.
• When they are off-track with their intention, they know how to re-align their mindset with their goals. They have practical tools to shift limiting ways of thinking into thinking patterns that are empowering, resourceful and results producing.

The Intentional Selling Mindset

The following table shows you how your mindset needs to shift in order to harness the power of intentional selling:

In other words, to adopt intentional selling attitudes, you prime yourself for success from the moment you start your work. Instead of focusing on selling activities – making maximum number of calls – you direct your tasks to making the most productive calls to those prospects with highest potential.

Instead of making assumptions that limit your possibilities, you question them and open yourself up to new opportunities. You take appropriate risks in order to find out what truly works or doesn’t work.

In the next weeks I’ll provide a series of posts to reveal just how powerful using intention can be in bringing more results in a shorter time. I know this stuff works and my clients tell me how it’s transformed their sales success. Stay tuned for more!